PMO Interview with the Innovator Series: Volume 12

Drs. David Rimm and Roy Herbst identify the top challenges in the area of biomarker testing as well as solutions to these challenges, including availability of sufficient tissue for a large number of biomarker assays, the time some biomarker tests require for completion, the need for a tight association of [ Read More ]

Drs. Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss the challenges in biomarker testing—tissue stewardship and complexity of biomarker tests and results—and ways to overcome these challenges—improved communication among all members of the cancer care team and simplification of biomarker test results to focus on actionable biomarkers.

Drs. Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse consider the current landscape of reimbursement for molecular biomarker testing, the need to run FDA-approved tests, and the role of CMS and local Medicare providers in testing reimbursement.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse review the best practices to improve efficiencies in biomarker testing, including effective communication among the healthcare team, the pathologist, and the patient, as well as expediting processing in the pathology laboratory.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse consider the advantages and disadvantages of liquid biopsies as an early screening tool for biomarker testing, and how to integrate various approaches into a biomarker testing paradigm.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss the need for validation and standardization of Tumor Mutational Burden to make it a robust biomarker, in conjunction with PD-L1, in selecting immunotherapy for their lung cancer patients.

Drs. Roy Herbst and David Rimm discuss ways in which the time required to complete biomarker testing can be reduced, from obtaining and processing tissues, performing the testing, evaluating results, and reporting results to the cancer care team.